Montgomery Guilty in Skidmore Killing

The jury in the Lisa Montgomery murder case needed less than four hours of deliberation to return its verdict: Guilty in the killing of Bobbie Joe Stinnett of Skidmore.

Montgomery strangled Stinnett, then cut Stinnett’s unborn child from the woman’s womb in December of 2004. The defense had argued that Montgomery was mentally ill at the time and not able to tell right from wrong. The jury rejected that argument and found the Malvern, Kansas, woman guilty after eleven days of testimony at the Federal Courthouse in Kansas City.

The penalty phase of the trial begins Wednesday, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty.